NTR Focus offers a balanced view of a complex debate
The science programme Focus will broadcast an episode on February 10th 2026 about ethical dilemmas surrounding animal research, with Parkinson’s disease as the central theme. The programme shows how research at the BPRC is carried out and places it alongside animal-free research methods that are currently being developed. In the broadcast, all researchers involved arrive at the same conclusion: at this moment, the different research approaches cannot yet exist independently of one another.
From the BPRC, Jan Langermans, Head of the Animal Science Department, Jinte Middeldorp, Head of Neurobiology and Ageing, and PET-CT researcher Marieke Stammes speak about their work. Viewers are also given a look inside the laboratory, where a monkey is undergoing a CT-scan at that moment. In this way, the programme shows how the research is carried out in practice and how carefully it is conducted.
Researchers from Radboud University demonstrate how they work with brain cells from Parkinson’s patients, obtained during deep brain stimulation surgery. In addition, a patient talks about the impact of the disease and this treatment on his daily life.
The programme also highlights research at the University of Twente, where scientists work with so-called organs-on-chips. With this technology, researchers study the relationship between the gut and the brain without using laboratory animals.
The episode also pays attention to the historical context of animal research and to critical voices from society. The broadcast was prompted by the decision to phase out funding for the BPRC.
Focus deliberately does not take a simple or polarising position, but instead shows how complex and layered this issue is. This results in a balanced broadcast in which different perspectives are carefully presented alongside one another.
The programme arrives at a clear conclusion: animal-free methods are important and promising, but they do not yet provide a complete alternative for all research questions related to complex diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.
At the same time, the broadcast makes clear that animal research in the Netherlands takes place under strict legal frameworks, with continuous attention to careful practice and animal welfare.
The episode will be broadcast on 10 February at 21:20 on NPO 2 and can afterwards be watched via NPO Start through this link.
